Montpellier: Hot temperatures during France’s 2019 heat wave were linked to weight loss in people with heart failure, according to a new study.
The study, published in the journal ESC Heart Failure, calls for better use of telemonitoring technology to care for vulnerable patients as global temperatures rise.
“This is the first study to look at the relationship between temperature and weight in heart failure patients,” study lead author Francois Robill, from the University Hospital of Montpellier in France, said in a statement.
According to the researchers, the weight loss that occurs in these patients potentially lowers blood pressure and causes kidney failure, which is life-threatening.
Dr. Robill said that given future temperature forecasts, clinicians and patients should be prepared to reduce diuretic doses if weight loss occurs.
Diuretics (also called water tablets) are drugs that remove large amounts of water and salt from the body to reduce the amount of blood rushing through the veins and arteries.
Because the heart doesn’t pump blood efficiently around the body in patients with heart failure, these medications can cause shortness of breath and fluid to build up in the lungs, legs, and stomach.
In the study, weight gain in these patients was associated with shortness of breath and therefore they were admitted to the hospital so that they could be given diuretics to reduce shortness of breath and swelling in case of excess urination.
According to the researchers, the weight of heart failure patients may change during heat wave.
